severe constipation.. ugh

I don't know about cool things - but If you've been going every day then that is a good thing. Do you eat enough fibre. What about psyllium husks with lots of water? Do you do that?
I do psyllium sometimes - it's good for detoxing. But - plenty of water!

Hmmm..... they gave me this magnesium citrate drink that will clear me out. They said don't plan on going anywhere when I take that. And they gave me miralax and senna. So that should get things going.

I'm really surprised that it's that bad!! I go everyday! Today I even went 3 times without taking anything!

My doc told me to stop taking the antibiotics, but I can continue everything else. He's irritated that they didn't do the right tests.. but I think I'll be ok. Maybe I'll be surprised at how much better I feel once I'm cleared out! It must've taken a while for this to get so bad so maybe I just got used to feeling so bad.

The Lyme support group in my area sent me that link to the gastrointestinal palsy. I will re read it tonight. I guess the Lyme just slowed me down?

Try powdered magnesium citrate (not the drink). It's good for Lyme anyway.

Lots of Vitamin C works well too.

Both are good for you, but back off when you get diarrhea.

Once you've got things moving with these supplements, use two simple glycerin suppositories at night, and wait until you have to go. They are completely harmless.

That's what I do.

I don't even have any urge to go (ever) unless I have diarrhea, or I'm using the suppositories.

Earthfare and Whole Foods make a great powdered magnesium called Mag Relax. I like it a lot. It converts to mag. citrate when mixed with hot water.

Margaret

Hahahaha! I haven't taken anything yet. I was at my grandparents house helping out. My grandpa is on his way off this earth :( I don't want to chain myself to the toilet while my family is going through this.

I'm still going a few times a day anyway. Maybe I'll take some with me over there today if there are enough of us to help out.

LOL Opugirl!! I just love you!!! You are so open with this and always have been!! I so wish we lived closer so I could meet you in person!!!

IHL - I'm so glad you saw the humor in what I said - I worried about it a bit after I posted that this morning! I was up all too early thanks to a major migraine that woke me up!! UGH! So I was feeling a little silly.

That's understandable - things in our lives don't suddenly stand still for us when we are going through this. Please do what you need to do, but keep on trying to find opportunities to take care of yourself. Even if you only take small amounts of the things that the hospital sent you home with.

Have you had a chance to read that article about Bells palsy of the Gut yet? Even the nerves that make our innerds work are affected by Neuro Lyme and Bart.

IHL - did you say your Grandpa has dementia? I only ask because we moved my FIL into our home to help him through his last days and he had dementia as well. The docs here just diagnosed him with Alzheimers and wouldn't change it for nothing. He exhibited more symptoms of Lewy Body Dementia than anything.

Anyway, there are a lot of different meds that he can be given to help with many parts of what you are dealing with for him. Insist that his meds be evaluated as they aren't helping and don't stop until they get changed and are helping him.

We didn't realize this in time, so it wasn't until he was in Hospice care (although he still lived with us) that we found out about all those meds out there just for these conditions- and they don't have to be in Hospice just for their last days!! Hospice is something that you - as a family member - can request!! They will come out and evaluate your Grandpa to see if he fits the requirements, then they will be there to help in whatever capacity they can. If the patient improves enough to be taken out of Hospice, yet they need it again later, that's not a problem either!!

Hospice was a life saving, marriage saving, Trav saving option that we didn't call in soon enough because of misunderstanding what they were all about! I would encourage you or a family member to check into it.

Okay, sorry, that was all off topic, but I thought it important enough to say right away.

Now back to you - are you bloated? If so if that is going away, then you should be okay to wait. If you aren't bloated, just watch closely for your symptoms to start to increase again - at that point, you likely no longer have any options but to take the meds and things that you were given to avoid serious issues.

I hope you have lots of success in the bathroom in the coming days!!

I knew my life had changed when poos became a hot topic of conversation!! My LLMD suggested I use magnesium when I have occasional problems. I stay on a really good probiotic. It's about $17/month and totally worth it...trust me. It's call Super 8 Hi-Potency Probiotic by Udo's Choice. It has 42 billion cells of 8 strands.

The no bloating for me means that it's a motility issue and I have to get those muscles functioning again - if there is bloating it means that I'm "just" constipated.

For me - while infected - any kind of stress will bring on constipation, whether emotional or physical. A day of increased pain (around an "8") will mean troubles tomorrow in the bathroom, so even a migraine can really mess with me. So realize that you are under a great deal of stress and that is contributing to this. You need to take a break from time to time and take care of yourself - or you could wind up in the hospital where you can't help take care of anyone or anything.

I'm glad to hear that your Grandpa doesn't have dementia - that adds a bit to trying to care for them. I was very, very blessed that my FIL trusted me above all others, so he would allow me to do things for him without question - sometimes even before he would allow his own son (my hubby) to help.

Please make time to care for yourself. You can still be there for your Grandpa, but take a bit of time to sit with a heating pad on your lower abdomen to see if that helps at all, take lighter doses of the meds you were given so that the 'response' isn't too dramatic and be sure to drink TONS of water!! This is critical to getting things moving again.

Magnesium oxide is great for pulling water into the intestines for relief of constipation too. I have to take large doses of Mag ox while I'm infected - 1250 mgs first thing in the am and just before bed to give you an idea. I would encourage you to start on a much lower dose though, and build up slowly.

So I just took a senna pill. I've already went twice today. I had diarrhea so I don't know if that's a good sign or not. It looked like coffee grounds, hopefully it's not blood. That happens to my fiance when he has ulcers. Yuck.

I'll take some miralax in an hour or so and see what hapoens. I'm going to take it easy today. My brother said that my grandpa is doing really good. So I'm going to take a few hours here at my house and not rush over.

This just sucks hahaha. What a crappy problem to have! Literally! Being human can be really gross sometimes..

I'm going to add a lot more chia seeds to my diet. I know I used to think when I ate more it relieved my "kidney" pain. What it probably really did was make me more regular and that's why I felt better! They seem to work really good for me.

Thank you so much traveler! I feel like I can handle this now! Hahahaha! Lots of water, smoothies, bone broth, no dairy or gluten, and all of my medicines. I'm also going to stay on top of my pain so I don't have any issues there. Once it starts to hurt it really can ruin your whole day.

I'm not embarrassed to come here and ask questions that's for sure! My family have been cracking quite a few jokes, but a little humor is never a bad thing!

I bet this has been the cause of a lot of my mid body pain. I've had cramps down my legs and all the way up to my jaw. Ugh..

Pain and fatigue have definitely been my biggest issues as far as Lyme goes. And then add in the lightheaded stuff, bad vision, rashes, bad hands, and tingling prickly numb stuff. Ugh! Exhausting!

I can't wait for this to be over. Time for some miralax.

A note to all of this - if anyone develops diverticulosis (like me ), the really small seeds are not smart to use! They can get stuck in one of the pockets and cause a ton of pain, swelling and even an infection (diverticulitis). So be careful!!!